The Curious Case of Their Friendship
by the butler
Summary: whose? of Ran Shuuei and Li Kouyuu's, of course. musings, introspections, a bit of humor.


"**The Curious Case of Li Kouyuu and Ran Shuuei's Friendship"**

A Saiunkoku Monogatari fan fiction by the butler

**Contains**: no major spoilers, certainly some longwinded introspection, misplaced musings, and may have a bit of love. Manly shounen-ai? Perhaps. It's always hinted at when it comes to these two in the canon, so it's not much of a stretch if it's in fan fiction either.

**Disclaimer: **this fan fiction is a work of no profit whatsoever; all characters remain in the ownership of their author and illustrator.

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What really bothered him, above everything else, was that insufferable, over-confident smile. Or was it better-suited to be called a smirk? A slight upward tilt of a corner of the lips, conveying suave confidence and a hint of the mysterious, 'I know something you don't know' aura. And those cool, calculating eyes doesn't help much to alleviate the irritation that Li Kouyuu always felt whenever Ran Shuuei came onto his peripheral vision. Not to mention that the young general has no concept of personal space whatsoever. 

About the only thing that Kouyuu could be grateful for whenever Ran Ryuuren graced them with his flamboyant presence is that that is the only time Ran Shuuei gets flustered. It does his heart good to see that smirk wiped off the idiot's face to be replaced with a long-suffering and apologetic smile.

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What really interested him, above everything else, is the fact that despite the brilliance of a scholarly genius, Li Kouyuu was in fact something of a bumbling idiot. The emotional immaturity is something of a given, since he _is_ part of the Kou clan, even if adopted, and the Kous have a tendency to have weird personal relationships with people close to them (perhaps with the exception of Shuurei-dono, and even then not that much of an exception since she does have a thing about her mother's death). But beyond the self-flagellating tendency, Li Kouyuu is incredibly naïve about things beyond administrative and governmental work. Ran Shuuei was kind of expecting some cynical, world-weary persona, since Kouyuu did live by the skin of his teeth on the mean streets of Kou province before being taken in by his Reishin-sama.

But then again, being brought up by Kou Reishin, who has the tendency to be incredibly overprotective and terribly vindictive to anyone who dares offend his ward, Shuuei supposes it shouldn't be any wonder that Kouyuu grew up as blissfully unaware of matters non-administrative as he did. Besides, this way Shuuei gets to tease the easily riled scholar more.

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That idiotic, hedonistic, poor excuse for a general flirts way too much with just about anyone, to Kouyuu's opinion. Ran shogun flirts without discrimination- even the way he reports to superiors, even the way he writes, damn it, carries double meaning. It irritates Kouyuu, because flirting with just about anyone doesn't demonstrate a carefree spirit who seriously believes in equality, but rather a guarded persona who shields himself with pretensions. It irritates Kouyuu because it makes Shuuei seem shallow, when he knows the young general isn't so.

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Being inundated with offers of marriage to various daughters of noble houses is not enough to make a man hate women, to Shuuei's opinion. Hate marriage, perhaps, hate clingy, opportunistic officials, certainly, but not the fairer sex. There is more to Kouyuu's hate of women than it seems. Maybe it's because the scholar grew up without the benefit of a caring mother, or maybe it's because of Kouyuu's all-too serious demeanor leaves no room for patience towards female ways of charms and wiles, but it's more probably owing to Reishin-sama's attitude to women himself. If his beloved Reishin-sama sees no cause for Kouyuu to be involved with women, then Kouyuu sees no cause either. The moment Reishin-sama starts hinting for a grandchild would surely be the moment Kouyuu changes policies and start pursuing marriage like a man possessed. And though that situation would surely be entertaining, Shuuei is still thankful that the fickle Kou Reishin has yet to ask anything by way of progeny, and it doesn't seem like it's to happen any time soon.

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There must be something about being the older brother of the clan genius and future clan leader. The idea of the exalted name of Ran Ryuuren skipping over you and your elder brothers only to be bestowed upon your youngest sibling, to someone who clearly doesn't want nor care to being named as such, is an idea that Kouyuu cannot grasp, if only because if it were him he would have gotten the Ryuuren name. It's only natural. And if it were not, then he would have worked hard to make it so.

Perhaps it's because Kouyuu has lived by himself for so long that he finds it hard to understand the complicated relationships of siblings, from sibling rivalry to brotherly love. And that is also perhaps one of the reasons why Ran Shuuei is so much wiser than this genius.

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Being the fourth of five exceptional sons has trained Shuuei to deflect the spotlight and instead work from behind the scenes, where influence is more easily worked and the pressure is definitely less. His, after all, is the most unexceptional birth- he is not part of a triplet, nor is he a born genius. Perhaps that is why he can never fully grasp Kouyuu's grim determination to become jougen when they were younger, nor his continuing efforts to be considered exceptional in his Reishin-sama's eyes. Wasn't it enough to be the only son of the head of the Kou clan, rumored to be the next in line, despite not being of blood? Such pressure and focus of fierce attention is, for Shuuei, undesirable.

But that may be because he never had to survive to live at such a young impressionable age. The benefit of a supportive family has always been there for Shuuei, and there had never been any driving need to prove himself to anyone, not even when Ryuuren started to surpass him and his elder brothers. He never had to be accepted, he already was from the moment he was born. To live with constant pressure from all quarters, like iron being molded, may be the reason why Li Kouyuu would always be more courageous than this soldier.

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Though Shuuei would constantly tease Kouyuu and Kouyuu would constantly scold Shuuei, theirs is undoubtedly a friendship, no matter the way they constantly push and pull at each other, and perhaps it may be because of that. Though Kouyuu is just like his cooking: substance over presentation, while Shuuei cultivates appearances because for him it is half the battle, like his house, they get along. Surely, this is because they've spent enough time to blunt the edges of their annoyances and misgivings and have already established a groove in their lives that accommodates the other. It certainly was awkward and a bit trying given their different temperaments back when they were only dorm-mates before the national exams. But since then, they've graduated from mere acquaintances, work-mates, to genuine friends.

Because Kouyuu would always care about Shuuei visiting the brothels far too often, even if it seems like it's none of his business to get angry about something as personal as that.

And because Shuuei would always look for and find Kouyuu whenever he gets lost within the palace grounds and even beyond, even if he only gets shouted at in return.

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end. 


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